WHOM ARE WE PLEASING?

Garth Wilkins

Central Truth

When we follow God's plan, we please Him and receive His protection.

"Thus says the LORD, 'He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.'" (Jeremiah 38:2)

Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern

1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people: 2 “Thus says the LORD: He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. 3 Thus says the LORD: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.” 4 Then the officials said to the king, “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” 5 King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern

7 When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate— 8 Ebed-melech went from the king's house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again

14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the LORD has shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,

‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
they turn away from you.’

23 All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

I struggle with the sin of people-pleasing every day of my life, and my struggle is within a much humbler context than that of a king. My circumstances have never left my earthly life hanging in the balance, but I still regularly choose to please people rather than the Lord. At work recently I had a very simple question from a long-standing, sometimes demanding client. I chose not to be frank with them because of my fear of not pleasing them. This tactic extended our conversations by email and ended up wasting time for me and my client. In the end, I'm sure my client was irritated with me. All I had to do in the first place was be blunt about the solution, one that did not include me.

When I read this passage, my opinion was that King Zedekiah knew Jeremiah was the genuine article and spoke for the Lord. If the king did not know this, I think he should have, and he should have viewed Jeremiah as a trusted friend. In verse 5 we see one example of the king fearing man more than God: he gives up his authority to act and leaves dealing with Jeremiah to his subordinates. What appears to be one of the most important decisions of the king's life did not go well, and it did him and his nation no good.

God wants me to depend on Him, not to care for the things of this world and the praise of men. That's why He had Paul write 1 Corinthians 4:3-5. He also gave us Colossians 3:23 (NIV), "Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men," as well as Matthew 10:28 and Ephesians 6:12. My response to this passage is a prayer that I would renew my mind daily and give my life to the Lord in deed and thought. I want to trust in Him so that my choices will be pleasing to Him and will bring Him glory.

1. What recent situation caused you to be more concerned about the thoughts of people rather than the heart of God?

2. When have you passed on an important decision and left the responsibility to someone else who you know doesn't have God's best in mind?

3. Do you spend time in God's word daily so that He can speak clearly to you about the direction of your life? Do you believe you could make a decision tomorrow that could effect your whole eternity, and are you ready and armed with the knowledge to make the right decision?

4. Who are all the godly people in your life? Are they mere acquaintances, or are they some of your best and most trusted friends?

WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY

JEREMIAH 35-39 (MAY 23-27)

Read Jeremiah 38:1-13.

What did Jeremiah tell the people God had told him? How did the people respond to him? How do you think Jeremiah might have felt when he was stuck in the mud at the bottom of the cistern?

What did Ebed-melech do?

Now read Jeremiah 39:15-17. Who sent Ebed-melech to help Jeremiah?

Have you ever been persecuted for speaking God's truth? What happened? How did you feel when you were being persecuted? Did you ever feel like maybe God had forgotten you? What can you do when you are in the middle of the persecution?

Activity: Think about a situation in which you were being persecuted and another person came to help. Might have been a boss that stood up for you when you were doing the right thing or a friend at school that stepped in when another kid was making fun of you. Then, take time to write that person a note to say thanks for helping you to continue to do the right thing.